AITE Holds its 10th Annual Technology Expo

Computer games, architectural renderings, recorded music and a large human-sized robot were on display at the Thursday evening for the 10th annual Technology Expo and awards ceremony.

The magnet school offers college preparatory program that engages students in technology, mathematics and science, digital arts, engineering, art and music.

“By the end of the year they have enough skills, so I just let them loose,” mathematics and computer science teacher Dennis Siladi  told Patch.

Siladi’s class created computer games, which were projected onto a screen for display that night. “These are all original ideas from the students," he said.

Eleventh grader Daniel Moxam focused his project on music. With the help of a keyboard and a computer, Moxam created an original song combining different beats and tunes. Moxam said that perhaps a career in music is something that has been on his mind.

“We try to have the projects coincide with the curriculum,” Jeanne Lauer, business technology and accounting teacher at AITE, said. Lauer also runs the school’s virtual high school and Cisco networking program.

According to Lauer, AITE encourages interest in science in more than just the curriculum. “The architect designed the floor to resemble the motherboard of a computer.”

The design allows students to see how elevators run, what the school’s server system looks like, etc. “It makes the students totally aware of what’s behind the walls,” he said.

The arts are also building at AITE, according to Lauer. “We have very artistic students," he said. "The music program is expanding and we’re teaching seven to eight different languages including Russian, Chinese, Arabic and sign language. We run the gamut.”

Numerous certificates were given out during a ceremony following the expo where teachers in each department presented awards for Student Achievement and Most Improved.